The Department of Health's 2025\/26 Seasonal Influenza Vaccine Subsidy Scheme (including the Seasonal Influenza Vaccine School Outreach Scheme and the Institutional Residential Vaccination Scheme) commenced in September 2025, and eligible individuals can receive subsidized or free vaccinations. Experts urge young children, the elderly, and high-risk individuals to get vaccinated against influenza as early as possible to reduce the risk of influenza complications and fatalities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Influenza (seasonal influenza, commonly known as flu)<\/strong> is a respiratory infectious disease caused by various types of influenza viruses. The most common types in Hong Kong are H1N1 and H3N2 influenza A and influenza B. Influenza cases occur throughout the year in Hong Kong. Generally speaking, January to March and July to August are the peak periods of each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Patients will develop fever, cough, runny nose, sore throat, headache, muscle pain, and general fatigue. Symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea may also occur. They usually recover on their own within 7 days. Cough is usually severe and lasts longer, but fever and other symptoms usually subside on their own within 5 to 7 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once people with weakened immunity or the elderly are infected with influenza, the illness may be more serious than ordinary people, and complications may occur, such as bronchitis, pneumonia, etc., and even death in severe cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Influenza viruses are mainly spread through respiratory droplets, including when a sick person coughs, sneezes or talks. In addition, if you come into direct contact with the patient's secretions, you can also be infected with influenza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The incubation period of the virus is generally about 1 to 4 days. The infectious period can be about one day before the onset of the disease, and infect others within 5 to 7 days after the onset of the disease. For young children, or those with severely compromised immune systems, the infectious period can be even longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you suspect that you have influenza and your symptoms persist or worsen, you should seek medical advice as soon as possible. You can take a rapid influenza test in a hospital or private clinic. The results are usually known within 15 minutes. The doctor will then provide appropriate prescription drugs and treatment according to the needs of the condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n **Notice!<\/em>Antibiotics are medicines that treat bacterial infections, not viral infections. Taking antibiotics will not cure flu or speed up recovery.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Influenza has the opportunity to cause serious illness, and there are many ways of transmission. In order to minimize the chance of infection, we should:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Maintain healthy living habits, pay attention to personal and environmental hygiene<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Get the seasonal flu vaccine<\/p>\n\n\n\n People who are recommended to receive seasonal influenza vaccine first:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Even healthy people may suffer from severe influenza. In order to protect the health of individuals and their families, different types of people should consult their family doctors for details about seasonal influenza vaccination.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Department of Health's 2025\/26 Seasonal Influenza Vaccine Subsidy Scheme (including the Seasonal Influenza Vaccine School Outreach Scheme and the Institutional Residential Vaccination Scheme) commenced in September 2025, and eligible individuals can receive subsidized or free vaccinations. Experts urge young children, the elderly, and high-risk individuals to get vaccinated against influenza as early as possible to reduce the risk of influenza complications and fatalities.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14273,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[108],"tags":[],"doctors":[],"media-members":[],"class_list":["post-14071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-info"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSymptoms:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Complications that flu can cause:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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way for spreading:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Flu rapid test:<\/strong> <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
In case of flu, what should I pay attention to?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Prevention method:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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